Sleeeeeeeep

We're still trying to get some different bed time habits worked into the nightly routing.  I am really trying to not let myself lay down and snuggle with Alex until he falls asleep.  But he's so so so snuggly...it's really hard.  We're also slowly working on the earlier bedtime.

There are a couple reasons I need to not be laying with him until he falls asleep.  First, I don't think it's exactly conducive to a healthy marriage to have one of the partners sleeping half the night in the child's bed.  Second, and more important to my immediate sanity, when I'm laying with him when he falls asleep, he is very unhappy if I'm not there if/when he happens to wake up during the night.  So instead of just going to back sleep, he beckons me until I come downstairs.  And this has been happening almost every night.  Well, every night except the nights Travis puts him to bed.  Which is most likely because Travis doesn't fall asleep in there most times.  He has a way to get out of there without Alex throwing a fit.  He tells him he will stay in there laying with him, but he's going to start snoring when he falls asleep.  Usually the threat of having to listen to his dad chainsaw some giant Redwoods is enough to make Alex ok with going to sleep by himself.

Yes, I realize I could most likely solve the snuggling/waking up problem by having Travis put him to  bed every night.  But bed time is one of my favorite times with Alex...and did I mention how snuggly he is?!  So yeah, this is absolutely my problem, not Alex's.  Whatever.  I'm working on it.

A couple nights ago, after I had laid with him but left before he fell asleep, he woke up yelling for me at 12:30am.  I heard the first "Moooom?" but it was not too loud and I thought if I held really still and didn't move to get out of bed he would magically fall back asleep.  No dice.  "Moom!  MOM!  MOM!"  I got down there and asked what was up.  He propped himself up on his little elbows and lays this one on me:

"So.  Mom.  ~mouth smack, mouth smack~  Sometimes...when the dog barks...it irritates me.  I just wanted to tell you that.  Will you give me some pets?"

And there I sat.  Next to his bed, dumbfounded, rubbing his back.  This kid has got me right where he wants me.